Post by sharksmith on Feb 7, 2017 21:18:15 GMT 1
Transdev's Yorkshire Coastliner is one of the most recognisable and most respected bus brands in country attracting the most up to date buses in the Transdev Blazefield fleets pointing to a very profitable operation.
Clearly this is more than just a bus for a day out at the seaside and benefits hugely from having the city of York smack bang in the middle of the route between Leeds and the Yorkshire coast. It is a winner for many passengers, end to end journeys from Leeds to the Coast, day trippers from Leeds to York, commuters travelling from York/Knaresborough into Leeds for work and a local lifeline for the folks of Knaresborough and Malton whose nearest city shopping experience is York.
All of these things contribute to the success of this service, but could it be replicated elsewhere. The short answer to this is no, not in the same format, but I do believe there may be scope for a similar type of service to the Lancashire coast and this is my thinking
The Yorkshire coast has always been popular with the folks of Leeds and rightly so, it is very beautiful at most times of the year. The people of Bradford and Keighley however have always tended to head west, mainly thanks to the direct trains from the area to Morecambe. While Morecambe has died as a holiday destination over the last fifty years Blackpool has developed into the party capital of the north and could be a target destination for a well marketed route.
So who goes to Blackpool, I would say four different categories of traveller.
1 Blackpool is one of the top places for Stag/Hen do's in the UK with the bars and clubs of Blackpool full of partygoers every weekend.
2 Blackpools attractions such as the Pleasure Beach, Golden Mile & Blackpool Tower amongst many others attract many a family to the area
3 For the months of September to November Blackpool of course sparkles when the illuminations are in full glow extending the holiday season considerably into the autumn.
4 There are still families who have been visiting Blackpool for generations, some as an annual holiday but just as many as a second getaway for a week or two.
Here's how I think Transdev could tap into these markets
Starting maybe around early May a weekend only service running every two hours from Keighley using schools double deckers. The service would run limited stop with stops in Steeton, Cross Hills, Cowling, Laneshawbridge & Colne before hitting the M65 non stop to Burnley, back on the M65 then before stops at Intack and Blackburn before running non stop to Blackpool. I reckon the whole route could be done in around two and a half hours and this is how it would work.
Friday nights departing Keighley at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm with return journeys leaving Blackpool at 7pm, 9pm & 11pm. Saturdays the route could run every two hours from 8am to 8pm from Keighley and 11am to 11pm returning from Blackpool with a similar pattern on Sundays although maybe with an earlier final departure.
So how does this attract our target groups.
1 The Stag/Hen revellers would be candidates for the afternoon departures on both Friday and Saturday nights. These travellers will generally have no intention of coming back the same night and will stagger back to a B&B sometime in the early hours to sleep off the nights excesses. Rising around midday they can take a sleepy early afternoon journey back home the next day. Transdev could link up with Blackpool's tourist organisations to offer a facility for people to find their accomodation, link up with pubs and clubs to offer discounted admissions for ticket holders and to stop the rowdiest behaviour on the outward journies a discounted return ticket for well behaved passengers could be given on arrival in Blackpool, an added bonus would be that I imagine that a lot of these vouchers/tickets would be lost over the night on the town.
2 The family day trippers are unlikely to want to mix with category A but in reality it's unlikely they would meet too often. These passengers are using the morning departures from Yorkshire and East Lancashire to get in a full day at the coast and will be coming home well after the hangover gang have bid a weary farewell to the beach. In school holidays the service could also operate a limited weekday service with maybe a couple of weekdays added in. Again I would imagine there will be deals available for a bus operater to access while shuttling in customers to the area's attractions in the form of discount vouchers for Lancashire Coastliner passengers.
3 In a similar way to the school holidays extra days could be added into the September to November timetable, this time evenings only to give people the chance of an evening at the illuminations, if popular you could even get Blackburn or Burnley depot to provide a duplicate last departure of the night which would travel the length of the illuminations before heading to Yorkshire and then back home. In the seventies and eighties I can recall coaches from all ends of the country doing this parade down the seafront and I can imagine people would still enjoy this now. Transdev could charge a premium for this service and it would have to be more comfortable than using the modern trams which are generally rammed to capacity with no view at all if you are crammed in the centre.
4. The holidaymakers could choose whenever they want to set off to the coast but I would imagine would mainly overlap with the day trippers.
So that's my thinking, pitfalls I can think of would be asking 16 year old Presidents to do this type of work may be a stretch so it may need a bit of investment into four newer buses which are better suited to the work but still suitable for schools work. They may need some sort of easily attachable branding to change a yellow school bus into something more attractive for it's evening trips. Also traffic could be an issue particularly if there are problems on the motorways or with illuminations traffic but that would need to be kept under review. If you do market the service at the partygoers you would need to keep a firm grip on their exuberance particularly if they do happen to end up on the same buses as your families. Certainly a cleaning charge for any vomiting incidents on the return trips would have to be clearly publicised and enforced.
A few bonus passengers may turn up as well. Possibly the quicker journey times between Keighley and Burnley and between Burnley and Blackburn may entice the occasional traveller. Add these services to the Daytripper Plus ticket between Blackburn and Blackpool and you can then truly advertise a coast to coast experience, you'll certainly attract a few enthusiasts at the very least.
Other marketing would have to be aimed at providing through tickets and connections from Bradford, Shipley & Bingley on the 662 or 760 to catch passengers from these area's and expand the customer base. This would also mean that the last arrival from Blackpool on a night may have to continue onto Bradford with alighting only stops in these area's so people can get home or at least to within a cheap taxi ride from their homes. If no-one wants to go that far the bus and driver can just go straight to bed. Alternatively again a link up with a local taxi firm in Keighley to provide discounted late night fares along the Aire Valley and even into Wharfedale could be looked at.
Sensible comments?
Clearly this is more than just a bus for a day out at the seaside and benefits hugely from having the city of York smack bang in the middle of the route between Leeds and the Yorkshire coast. It is a winner for many passengers, end to end journeys from Leeds to the Coast, day trippers from Leeds to York, commuters travelling from York/Knaresborough into Leeds for work and a local lifeline for the folks of Knaresborough and Malton whose nearest city shopping experience is York.
All of these things contribute to the success of this service, but could it be replicated elsewhere. The short answer to this is no, not in the same format, but I do believe there may be scope for a similar type of service to the Lancashire coast and this is my thinking
The Yorkshire coast has always been popular with the folks of Leeds and rightly so, it is very beautiful at most times of the year. The people of Bradford and Keighley however have always tended to head west, mainly thanks to the direct trains from the area to Morecambe. While Morecambe has died as a holiday destination over the last fifty years Blackpool has developed into the party capital of the north and could be a target destination for a well marketed route.
So who goes to Blackpool, I would say four different categories of traveller.
1 Blackpool is one of the top places for Stag/Hen do's in the UK with the bars and clubs of Blackpool full of partygoers every weekend.
2 Blackpools attractions such as the Pleasure Beach, Golden Mile & Blackpool Tower amongst many others attract many a family to the area
3 For the months of September to November Blackpool of course sparkles when the illuminations are in full glow extending the holiday season considerably into the autumn.
4 There are still families who have been visiting Blackpool for generations, some as an annual holiday but just as many as a second getaway for a week or two.
Here's how I think Transdev could tap into these markets
Starting maybe around early May a weekend only service running every two hours from Keighley using schools double deckers. The service would run limited stop with stops in Steeton, Cross Hills, Cowling, Laneshawbridge & Colne before hitting the M65 non stop to Burnley, back on the M65 then before stops at Intack and Blackburn before running non stop to Blackpool. I reckon the whole route could be done in around two and a half hours and this is how it would work.
Friday nights departing Keighley at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm with return journeys leaving Blackpool at 7pm, 9pm & 11pm. Saturdays the route could run every two hours from 8am to 8pm from Keighley and 11am to 11pm returning from Blackpool with a similar pattern on Sundays although maybe with an earlier final departure.
So how does this attract our target groups.
1 The Stag/Hen revellers would be candidates for the afternoon departures on both Friday and Saturday nights. These travellers will generally have no intention of coming back the same night and will stagger back to a B&B sometime in the early hours to sleep off the nights excesses. Rising around midday they can take a sleepy early afternoon journey back home the next day. Transdev could link up with Blackpool's tourist organisations to offer a facility for people to find their accomodation, link up with pubs and clubs to offer discounted admissions for ticket holders and to stop the rowdiest behaviour on the outward journies a discounted return ticket for well behaved passengers could be given on arrival in Blackpool, an added bonus would be that I imagine that a lot of these vouchers/tickets would be lost over the night on the town.
2 The family day trippers are unlikely to want to mix with category A but in reality it's unlikely they would meet too often. These passengers are using the morning departures from Yorkshire and East Lancashire to get in a full day at the coast and will be coming home well after the hangover gang have bid a weary farewell to the beach. In school holidays the service could also operate a limited weekday service with maybe a couple of weekdays added in. Again I would imagine there will be deals available for a bus operater to access while shuttling in customers to the area's attractions in the form of discount vouchers for Lancashire Coastliner passengers.
3 In a similar way to the school holidays extra days could be added into the September to November timetable, this time evenings only to give people the chance of an evening at the illuminations, if popular you could even get Blackburn or Burnley depot to provide a duplicate last departure of the night which would travel the length of the illuminations before heading to Yorkshire and then back home. In the seventies and eighties I can recall coaches from all ends of the country doing this parade down the seafront and I can imagine people would still enjoy this now. Transdev could charge a premium for this service and it would have to be more comfortable than using the modern trams which are generally rammed to capacity with no view at all if you are crammed in the centre.
4. The holidaymakers could choose whenever they want to set off to the coast but I would imagine would mainly overlap with the day trippers.
So that's my thinking, pitfalls I can think of would be asking 16 year old Presidents to do this type of work may be a stretch so it may need a bit of investment into four newer buses which are better suited to the work but still suitable for schools work. They may need some sort of easily attachable branding to change a yellow school bus into something more attractive for it's evening trips. Also traffic could be an issue particularly if there are problems on the motorways or with illuminations traffic but that would need to be kept under review. If you do market the service at the partygoers you would need to keep a firm grip on their exuberance particularly if they do happen to end up on the same buses as your families. Certainly a cleaning charge for any vomiting incidents on the return trips would have to be clearly publicised and enforced.
A few bonus passengers may turn up as well. Possibly the quicker journey times between Keighley and Burnley and between Burnley and Blackburn may entice the occasional traveller. Add these services to the Daytripper Plus ticket between Blackburn and Blackpool and you can then truly advertise a coast to coast experience, you'll certainly attract a few enthusiasts at the very least.
Other marketing would have to be aimed at providing through tickets and connections from Bradford, Shipley & Bingley on the 662 or 760 to catch passengers from these area's and expand the customer base. This would also mean that the last arrival from Blackpool on a night may have to continue onto Bradford with alighting only stops in these area's so people can get home or at least to within a cheap taxi ride from their homes. If no-one wants to go that far the bus and driver can just go straight to bed. Alternatively again a link up with a local taxi firm in Keighley to provide discounted late night fares along the Aire Valley and even into Wharfedale could be looked at.
Sensible comments?
